Hello Kitty Kaiba
by Nenya85
Summary: Despite the title, it's NOT a crossover! It's business as usual in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world… monsters are attacking, Yugi and friends are about to save the day and Kaiba's their reluctant ally. Friendship and trust seem irrelevant until a cat-headed goddess decides to meddle. Obviously AU. Eventual, implied Prideshipping.
1. It's the Old Schrödinger's Cat Question

**In the book "Dune" there's a saying of the Bene Gesserit: "Beginnings are such delicate times." I think that's true for stories as well as people, so I'd love to know what you think of this beginning.**

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I do admire Kazuki Takahashi for his skill in creating such vibrant characters and for his generosity in allowing the rest of us to borrow them for a few adventures of our own.

**SUMMARY:** Despite the title, it's NOT a crossover! It's business as usual in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world… monsters are attacking, Yugi and friends are about to save the day and Kaiba's their reluctant ally. Friendship and trust seem irrelevant until a cat-headed goddess decides to meddle. Obviously AU. Eventual, implied Prideshipping.

**THE TIMELINE:** In this story, a final battle takes place after DOMA. The Grand Prix and Ancient Egypt/Memory World arcs do not exist in this story. Although this story starts in the middle of _**a**_ final battle, it is NOT the final battle from Yu-Gi-Oh! Zorc/Zork Necrophades does not exist in this story.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I use the manga version of events where possible, but I also lean on the subtitled anime versions of the Virtual World, Noa's Arc and DOMA arc episodes, simply because they have a lot of the Kaiba brothers and I like them. If it becomes necessary, I'll put in a manga or anime note explaining plot or character differences from the 4Kids dubbed version.

**MANGA/DEATH-T NOTE:** After Yugi/Yami no Yugi beats Kaiba in their first duel, he's driven to create the Death-T tournament, and to force Yugi and his friends to enter a competition that could really kill them. Mokuba insists on being one of Yugi's challengers. Kaiba misreads this as a personal attack, and when Mokuba loses, Kaiba forces his brother to go through the Death Simulation chamber he had designed for Yami. Yami rescues Mokuba, and defeats Kaiba by summoning Exodia. As a result of this penalty game, Yami shatters Kaiba's heart, giving Kaiba the opportunity to rebuild it without the darkness that was destroying him, and leaving Kaiba in a coma until he does so.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: IT'S THE OLD ****SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT QUESTION**

Sometimes the duel itself doesn't matter. Sometimes it's the aftermath that counts.

It wasn't surprising that no one in Domino noticed what was going on. After all, Domino was hardly the most observant of cities. And, to be fair, the abandoned warehouse looked perfectly ordinary… just another squat, boarded up building sitting on an unused pier. Both pier and warehouse were scheduled for renovation later in the month, making the dumpy building private enough to be the perfect venue for a life or death duel with a 3,000 year old Egyptian snake-god of evil.

Yugi and the gang were fighting to save the world, something that was yawn-inducingly routine by Domino standards. They'd done it before and would again (probably before the summer vacation had ended.) Yugi and his friends were used to bizarre opponents and life or death stakes. They were even used – although Kaiba would have denied it as strenuously as he would have denied the title "friend" – to mysterious ancient magic and penalty games. Even the invisible bubble – or shield – that separated them from their watching friends was familiar.

The duel was way too same old- same old to bother to recount… right up until the appearance of the goddess with the cat head. Yugi (or more accurately, the 3000 year old spirit of an ex-pharaoh currently dueling with Yugi's body), Jounouchi and Kaiba were too focused on their battle for even the appearance of a cat-headed goddess on their side of the field to break their concentration. Kaiba had an opponent in front of him, Mokuba at his back and was blind to all else. It's doubtful whether he'd even registered the fact that his opponent was a giant snake, something Jounouchi was working overtime at trying to ignore. And Yami didn't remember enough of his past to realize that when a goddess comes to help, anything becomes possible.

Kaiba, Yami and Jounouchi had just fused their three signature monsters to form the Light and Dark Dragon Sage, trying to look like they'd done it before. They looked at their newly created monster, then at each other, then at their opponent. Even Kaiba had finally noticed he was fighting an enormous snake god – and none of them was sure what it would take to win.

That's when having a goddess on your side comes in handy. Bastet began chanting and although they hadn't played a card, the vision of one appeared: Exchange of Energy. Their monster started to glow. Its form dissolved in a pure light that spiraled back to include them, radiating until they were at the center of a whirling stream of light.

Bastet shook her head, clearly dissatisfied. "Three receptacles of power are not enough to defeat our enemy. Luckily that's a problem easily solved." She waved her hand and an unearthly darkness flared out, as if a match that created the opposite of light had been struck. It ensnared Yugi, and then just as suddenly disappeared, revealing two duelists – both with tri-colored hair and identically stunned faces –where only one had stood before.

"Partner?" Yugi said, staring at the young man he'd gotten used to calling his other self or even his darkness. The slightly taller, slightly slimmer version was staring at his hands as if he'd never seen them before and was wondering what they were good for besides drawing cards. As the darkness left, Exchange of Energy flickered back to life.

For an instant the duelists were frozen in place as Yugi stared at Yami – and Jounouchi stared at them both. The serpentine-god laughed, a horrible hissing sound like steam escaping from a demented kettle.

"I don't fucking believe this!" Kaiba yelled, jumping forward and shoving more cards in his duel disk. "You two kept insisting that you were two separate people to anyone who would listen, and even to people like me who didn't give a damn. If you flake out now just because you've been proven right I swear you won't have to wait for Snake Guy over there to kill you – I'm going to do it myself! Get your asses in gear and focus!"

Bastet smiled. "Well said. A focal point is indeed what is needed." She began her incantation again, louder and faster this time. It was like throwing extra kindling on a slow-burning fire. The unearthly fires swelled around them again. Then, the quality of the light changed, became more focused. It streamed from Jounouchi, Yugi and Yami into and then through Kaiba as he stood at the tip of the pyramid formed by the other three duelists. He looked more like a weapon than ever as he stood bathed in a light that turned laser sharp as it passed through his body, as it leapt out from his spare frame to attack their enemy.

It pierced the giant snake's heart, swerved downwards to skewer his giant torso over and over, leapt up to reach into his brain. It grew more brilliant, until pieces of him started to disintegrate, like a film strip burning in the heat of a projector. No one, not even a god, was meant to hold such radiance. He shattered and vanished, leaving them once again in the cool semi-darkness of the abandoned warehouse.

As the light left his body, Kaiba crumpled to the ground. The Other Yugi caught him as he fell, staggering under the sudden weight. He eased them both to the ground and sat with Kaiba's head cushioned in his lap.

"The duel's over. Why am I still seeing double?" Jounouchi wailed, his gaze shifting back and forth from one Yugi to the other.

"You're not." Yugi's voice shook. "Partner?" he asked, afraid this was one more illusion.

The Other Yugi nodded. "I don't understand what's happened any more than you do. But I'm here."

"You're… your own person… just like you were meant to be. It seems too good to be true." Yugi turned to Bastet. "Is this real?"

"When you duel in the name of the gods, all outcomes are real. You have destroyed an ancient threat. We are grateful. Our rewards are suitably divine."

The Other Yugi looked at the tall duelist in his arms. "Then why did you hurt Kaiba?"

"Hurt him? I've blessed him – just as I have with you. Not that humans are ever grateful," Bastet answered.

"Why won't he wake up?" the Other Yugi asked, shaking Kaiba as he spoke as though jerking his rival's unconscious body around would make the situation clear enough for even a cat-headed goddess to understand.

"I needed a sacrifice to use as a spear point, but I only needed one. The three of you…" she said, pointing to both Yugis and Jounouchi, "were so closely connected, so completely tied to each other and to your faith in your friends it would have taken more time than I could spare to pick the threads that bound you apart. He made my choice even easier when he leapt in front of the rest of you."

"He was just as much our comrade!" the Other Yugi yelled.

"If that's true, you have nothing to worry about. Do you speak for your entire group?" Bastet asked, looking past him to the others.

"Yes! Of course!" the Other Yugi answered.

"Forget about Kaiba! You have your own body, now! What's up with that?" Jounouchi asked.

"I think your teammate," she said waving towards Jounouchi, "has proven my point. You named him your comrade in good faith, but even after all you've been through together, your own team doesn't fully agree and as for your high priest…" she paused and gestured to the boy in the Other Yugi's arms – and it was astounding how young Kaiba looked when his eyes weren't blazing fire and his mouth was, for once, shut. "He didn't know he was your friend. All of that made it possible to take him without touching the rest of you. .. a situation that will remain unchanged unless you all amend it."

"What's it got to do with us? Kaiba's the one who has to learn not to be such a standoffish jerk, although how you expect him do that when he's in a coma…" Jounouchi argued.

"And you think he is the only one with lessons to learn, here?" Bastet asked.

"Never mind that! You had no right to hurt him!" the Other Yugi insisted.

"I told you: I've given him a gift beyond measure. You would be wise to pay attention. I dislike repeating myself."

"You call this a gift? Remind me not to hit you up for any birthday presents," Jounouchi muttered.

Bastet turned slightly to address the pharaoh. "I'm merely finishing the job that you started." She looked at Kaiba's unconscious form and gave a purring laugh. "He even looks much the same now as he did back when you left him unconscious after Death-T."

"That was different!" Yugi protested.

"I punished him with a penalty game. But I also left a way for him to break free – and to heal," the pharaoh said.

"As did I. Don't feel ashamed that you couldn't complete the job. It was a worthy attempt," Bastet admitted. "Especially since you are merely a mortal – and a young and inexperienced one at that. But you left him a puzzle to solve for a problem that reason alone can't fix. How can one piece together a heart in isolation when the essence of a heart is that it be shared?"

"Will you all forget Kaiba for a moment? What the hell is going on? How did the other Yugi get his own body?" Jounouchi asked.

"Magic," the goddess said with a sleek, self-possessed smile that made her seem more catlike than ever.

"What the fuck is going on? Why is a big, scary cat woman talking to us?" Jounouchi said. Yugi couldn't help but think that his friend spoke for them all.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but who are you?" Yugi asked, feeling that asking, "What are you?" would be a trifle impolite.

"It's nice that one of you has manners. I'm Bastet, the goddess of love and joy."

"Please, I don't understand… well… anything," Yugi said.

"I told you. It's magic." She sighed as she scanned their blank faces. "Why do mortals always insist on questioning the unknowable?" She turned back to the pharaoh. "You gave up all the remaining years of your life 3,000 years ago when you accepted being sealed into the Puzzle as the only way for us to avoid defeat. Now the battle is finally over. Thanks to you and your friends we've won, and we are returning the remaining years of your life to you."

"What of my search for my memories? I don't even know my name," he said.

"What's to remember? You were a pharaoh; you were sealed in the Millennium Puzzle when you were sixteen. Your life was as boring as any mortal's."

Jounouchi gave a bark of laughter, and then tried, unconvincingly, to turn it into a cough.

"Did you say something?" Bastet asked, like a teacher calling an unruly student in order.

"No ma'am," Jounouchi said, showing more contrition – or fear – than he ever had in school.

"But what of my family? My friends? I must have had them," the Other Yugi insisted.

"You did. But you have friends and a family again, don't you? You had a lover as well back then." She laughed. "You've lost nothing that can't be regained… and in the same form. It's a pity you can't see the irony."

The Other Yugi frowned.

Bastet roared. They flinched at the sound. She grew until her cat ears brushed the warehouse ceiling.

"I saw in your heart that you desired this gift more than any other. Are you daring to question my actions? You can join the afterlife any time you wish! I will send you there myself as a punishment for your ingratitude."

"Let's just say thank you to the nice cat-lady and run before she turns us all into toads or something," Jounouchi urged.

"At last, someone with common sense," Bastet said.

The Other Yugi knew that Bastet had read his desires accurately. In all the times he and Yugi had stayed up all night talking, in all the times they'd worried that the future would separate them… this was the one outcome they'd been almost afraid to mention, almost afraid to hope for, since both knew it would take a miracle…

The pharaoh thought he knew what Yugi would say, but he turned to him anyway.

"Follow your heart," Yugi said, shutting his eyes as though making a wish.

"Then if I accepted Bastet's offer…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Yugi dived for the floor and hugged him, smashing Kaiba between them. Yugi paused and shifted so he was at his partner's side, holding on to him.

"That would be perfect. It's everything we ever dreamed of!" Yugi said, shaking his former other self (and inadvertently, Kaiba) back and forth.

The Other Yugi felt slightly awkward accepting such a momentous gift from a goddess while sitting on the floor, but somehow, standing up and letting Kaiba's head bounce on the ground, or even handing him off to Yugi, seemed the greater sacrilege.

"Thank you. I have no words to express my gratitude," he said.

"I can only hope that's true. You've taken up enough of my time with your incessant babbling, and I'm still not finished with my tasks. I have your friend's welfare to consider… although I believe I've left that problem in good hands."

She vanished before they could ask what she meant. Jounouchi breathed a sigh of relief at her disappearance. As Bastet had noted, he had a lot of common sense.

Mokuba had been pounding on the invisible barrier separating him from his brother. It vanished with Bastet, and Mokuba half-fell, half-ran towards the older Kaiba.

"Nisama!" he screamed as he reached him, almost pushing Yami out of the way in his haste to hold his sibling.

"We could hear everything," Anzu said as she and Honda joined the group around Kaiba's body. Honda, Anzu and Jounouchi looked at each other. It was official: their best friend was now two people and his arch-rival and sometime ally was lying unconscious on the floor.

"Are you okay, Yugi?" Anzu asked.

Yugi nodded, although he looked far from sure that his answer was the correct one.

"I think so," he said, turning back to his partner as if he was afraid that the person he was used to calling his "other self" had disappeared in the time it took him to look at Anzu and glance back.

They fell silent for a moment. The only sound in the warehouse was Mokuba barking orders into his cell phone, sounding remarkably like his older brother. No one was surprised to see Isono and Fubeta appear a few minutes later.

"Luckily the pier was deserted. We should be able to get Nisama into the limo and back to the mansion without this becoming public," Mokuba said to Isono and Fubeta, barely noticing the near identical Yugis in the room – much less that one of them was still sitting next to his brother and seemed no more inclined to let go than Mokuba was.

"Mokuba, your brother needs to be in a hospital," Anzu said.

"Is a hospital going to be able to fix this?" Mokuba's gaze swept the group surrounding his brother. He snorted when no one answered. "I didn't think so. Isono's getting a med team to the mansion. The last thing my brother would want is for the press to find out that the CEO of Kaiba Corporation is in a coma after a mysterious encounter. Again."

The Other Yugi winced at the reminder.

Isono nodded to Mokuba. "The limousine is here, Mokuba-sama," he said. He, Fubeta and Mokuba took charge of Kaiba's body with a territorial authority that precluded any offers of help. The gang followed them to the limo. Isono and Fubeta angled Kaiba's body onto the back seat. Mokuba perched on the seat where he could hold his brother in place. The pharaoh started to follow when Yugi called, "Yami! Wait!" It was strange to hear the name they had used in private spoken aloud. Surprise held him in place a moment as the limo door shut and it shot away.

"We can go see them later," Yugi told him.

Yami looked at him, puzzled, not understanding the need to wait. But he was used to deferring to Yugi. That hadn't changed with the sudden acquisition of a body.

Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda stared at each other. They had called Yugi's other half, Yami no Yugi, Yugi's Darkness, among themselves, but they were suddenly unsure whether that made it a name, even though Yugi had just screamed it.

"I give up, what do we call you?" Jounouchi finally burst out.

Yami turned around at that. "I still don't know my name. I guess that it, like my memories, is in the past." He looked at the four worried faces before him and smiled. "It's okay. I'm here with my partner and my friends. Next to that a name is minor."

"Well, we still need one," Jounouchi insisted. "We can't keep calling you 'the Other Yugi' or 'Yami no Yugi.'"

"Why not? Well, take half of it, anyway." Anzu said.

"Are you crazy? What kind of name is Other?" Jounouchi argued.

"I think she meant Yami," Yugi said with a sigh. He looked at his partner, but Yami had turned back to watch the road, even though the limousine was long out of sight.

Kaiba wasn't aware of anything as mundane as the mechanics of getting him out of the limousine and up to his room in the Kaiba mansion. He was equally oblivious of the medical team fussing around him, the IV being put into his arm, or Mokuba shooing everyone out.

The first thing Kaiba noticed was that he was cold and alone in a darkness that was unnervingly familiar. He had no idea where he was… beyond that he was somewhere in that strange limbo that awaited those who lost penalty games, the place he'd heard Yugi and his friends call the shadow realm. But just as he thought that he was used to being alone, he realized there was someone – or something – in the darkness watching him. He found himself hoping that his brother hadn't found a way to join him.

"Mokuba!" he yelled, relieved when there was no answer. He knew from experience that if he was in the shadow realm his brother couldn't hear him.

"Your brother is safe. It's time to concentrate on you."

The voice was low and feminine. Like the darkness it was familiar. The last thing Kaiba could remember was dueling. The outcome had hung in the balance when she had arrived, a creature more powerful than any duel monster, even the ones from the god cards… a grotesque thing with a cat's head atop a woman's body.

"Grotesque thing… creature… you're not very complimentary." There was a flirtatious pout in her voice.

Somehow this must be a consequence of that duel – like the sudden separation of Yugi from the other one, the one that appeared every time they dueled. The one he would have denied looking for with his dying breath.

But Kaiba couldn't remember the duel's end. If he was in the shadow realm, did that mean they'd lost? But if they had, where were the others?

"You won't be able to reason your way out of this one," the voice replied.

"I wouldn't advise betting against me," he taunted.

"I'm not. I'm betting on you. But you're heading down the wrong path. Trust me, this is one puzzle you won't be able to solve with reason or logic or any of the other tools you use to hide behind." She sighed. "I don't know why I waste my time giving mortals divine gifts when all they do is question them. You're lucky I have a fondness for aloof and wary things. In fact, that might be a brilliant idea…"

Kaiba had been trapped like this three times before. With Pegasus and Noa there had been no goal beyond keeping him confined and in pain. Death-T had been different. Yami had been different. Kaiba had come, however reluctantly, to understand that. Yami had been trying desperately to knock Kaiba off of the path he'd been marching down with his usual single minded determination, not caring that it led to his own damnation.

Yami had set a lesson before him then refused to release him until he'd completed the assigned task. In a way it had been like Kaiba's childhood under Gozaburo, except that rebuilding instead of destruction had been the aim. And however much Kaiba had hated the implication he had anything left to learn and had resented the teacher, there had been a way out. Yami had left him to find the solution for himself.

Hopefully this would be the same… just one more challenge to beat.

"You need to discover if somewhere within yourself, somewhere beyond logic or calculations of risk and benefit, you have the ability to trust," Bastet said, her voice as soft as a cat's purr.

Kaiba snorted. She was just like the rest of Yugi's cheerleading squad, acting as though if he'd just change, everything would be fine.

He heard a faint, annoyed hiss in the darkness. "I did not say that you were the only one with lessons to learn. Friendship without understanding or acceptance is but half-offered. It might be better if I bind that formidable intellect, since all it seems to be doing at the moment is getting in your way." Her amusement had a faintly purring note to it. Kaiba hated the sound – and wondered how she'd heard him when he didn't remember speaking aloud.

"I'd like to see you try," he snarled, trying to find and stare down his opponent.

"Don't worry. Not permanently. That would be like cutting the arms off a statue. I'll even leave you the days to puzzle things out to your heart's content. The nights however, are mine. From sundown to sunup it is the world of emotion that matters. You need to spend an equal time learning to feel without attempting to make sense of things." The voice faded with her words.

Kaiba wondered if it was night yet – and if apprehension counted as an emotion.

* * *

.

_**Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing another story: **_I can't believe this will be our fourth story together! Also, thanks for saying: "Do… it…" at the idea of actually titling a story "Hello Kitty Kaiba."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I always think about when each story should start carefully. Although Kaiba has issues (well, more like a subscription) with trust and friendship, his outlook and attitude changes from when we first meet him to the end of Yu-Gi-Oh! Similarly, although even at the end, I'm not sure any of the Yugi-taachi have Kaiba on their friendslist, how Yugi's friends feel about Kaiba changes during the course of the manga/anime.

I picked after the end of DOMA as a starting point because issues of friendship and trust are in such a state of flux on both sides. They all worked together during the DOMA arc and showed a measure of trust in each other – but there's also a sense that Kaiba isn't quite comfortable with this new state of affairs and that nobody is sure what it means for the future.

**Acknowledgements: ** One nice thing about starting a story is that you get to say hello and thanks to people. Thanks to BnoMiko for everything and Splintered Star for listening and bouncing ideas and cat puns back and forth and EvilMidget6 for your support. Halowing and Dragonlady222 have reviewed just about every chapter of every story I've ever written. I can't start another one without thanking you for your encouragement. And Kagemihari – can't start a new story or a new year without wishing you a good one.

**Light and Dark Dragon Sage Note:** I realized as I was writing this that except for the legendary dragons in the DOMA arc, (and I guess the five dragon combo from the video game arc kind of counts) Jounouchi, Yami and Kaiba have never combined their monsters. Which is usually when I start making things up.

**Evil Snake God Note:** There really is an ancient Egyptian Snake God of Evil. His name is Apep or Apophis. He was the enemy of Ra and the god of dissolution, darkness and non-being. Even better, in some versions he was killed by Bastet.

**Review Note: **I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account. The link is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

**_Happy New Year! Please review. I'd like to know if the first chapter has gotten the story off to a good start or not._**


	2. Cat's Paw

**CHAPTER 2: CAT'S PAW**

Mokuba sat next to his brother and tried to figure things out. The freaky goddess seemed to think she'd done his brother a favor. Then again, she also seemed to think that whole penalty game thing that had left his brother in a coma had been an equally nifty idea. Mokuba frowned, wishing for an even bigger dog headed god to take her on.

He tried to remember her words. Bastet seemed to be saying that Nisama was in a coma because he didn't really trust Yugi and his friends, and they didn't care about him. That, Mokuba admitted, was true. But Bastet had also implied that if that changed, he'd wake up. Mokuba knew if he asked for help, the whole gang would be on his doorstep in an instant. They were nice like that, even the ones like Jounouchi, who hadn't quite forgiven his brother yet.

He stopped before he'd finished punching in Yugi's phone number. That was too easy. Getting them here because they were nice or because he'd asked and they felt sorry for him wasn't what Bastet had been talking about.

That made it even more gratifying when the gang came without being asked. Mokuba showed them into his brother's room, trying not to think about what his Nisama would say about the invasion. It wasn't like the room was particularly revealing anyway. It was large, as was the bed. It was neat. There was a glass table at one end with a computer on it and a framed picture that everyone assumed was one of Mokuba – and knew enough to stay away from. There was the expected Blue Eyes White Dragon statue – in glass – seeming to guard the room from its corner. The windows looked out over the grounds and another statue.

Yugi, Anzu and Jounouchi sat down on the chairs Mokuba had had brought in and looked at each other.

"Honda said to tell you he was sorry he can't come by until later. He had to watch his nephew. You remember Jouji…" Yugi's voice trailed off as he realized the only time Mokuba had met Honda's nephew had been at Death-T.

There was an awkward pause which Yugi and Anzu tried to fill with well-meant non-sentences. Finally Anzu came up with, "How is he? And how are you doing, Mokuba? I know how scary this all must be for you."

"There's no change. At least not yet," Mokuba said.

"I'm sure it'll be okay. Just think of how many times your brother has come back to you, no matter how bad things looked. And I believe your brother is my friend with all my heart," Yugi said.

Mokuba smiled briefly, trying to match Yugi's confidence.

Unfortunately, the conversation dried up after that, leaving them sitting and staring at each other once more. The uncomfortable silence was only broken (sort of) when Isono came into the room, went up to Mokuba and started talking to him in a tone too low for the rest to hear.

Mokuba looked from the door to his brother and bit his lip; Kaiba Corporation business needed his attention. He hated leaving his brother; it was why he'd brought his laptop in here and handled everything by phone or conference call.

"Why don't you go take care of whatever it is?" Yugi said. "We'll stay with your brother until you get back."

Mokuba nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. If he wanted Yugi and his friends to feel comfortable with his brother, he had to give them some privacy, even from him.

"Great. So what do we do now?" Jounouchi said.

"We could try talking to him," Yugi said.

"Talking to him? It's going to be a kinda one-sided conversation, Yugi," Jounouchi pointed out.

"It's supposed to be good for people in a coma," Yugi said stubbornly. "Besides, if there's any chance it'll help, we have to do everything we can. You heard what Bastet said. I should have tried harder. If I'd done a better job of being his friend… what if this mess is all my fault?"

"No, it isn't!" Anzu walked up to Kaiba for the first time since entering the room, and yelled, "This is all your own fault, Seto Kaiba!"

"Uh… I think you're supposed to say nice things, Anzu. I read that they can hear you," Yugi said.

"If you want me to be nice, stop blaming yourself! There's a reason he's the one in a coma, not you. Bastet said it herself. He always stood apart from everyone."

"I keep thinking maybe if I'd just…" Yugi repeated.

"Just, what? Tried harder? Every time we did, he pushed us away that much faster! You can't force him to be your friend." She shook her head at Kaiba. "Why do you always have to make things so hard for yourself and everyone around you? No one wants you here like this."

"Anzu! That's not fair! No, he never wanted to be our friend – that's what he said anyway – but we wouldn't be the ones sitting here today talking about him and Yami wouldn't be walking around free if Kaiba hadn't helped. He saved our lives at the risk of his own. If that's not friendship, what is?"

Anzu stared at Yugi, almost able to believe for an instant that Yami still inhabited his body. She'd never heard him speak so sternly before, and part of her resented it was on Kaiba's behalf.

"She's right, dude." Jounouchi said. "I don't mind being here for the kid's sake – or even for his – but don't expect me to act all broken up."

"Then leave until you're ready to come back and give Kaiba the kind of support he deserves," Yami said as he entered the room.

Jounouchi stared at him.

"What gives, buddy? This is just what I'm talking about! You should be out partying up a storm, not sitting here worrying about Kaiba. He's just like a cat: the one thing you can be sure of is that he's going to land on his feet. Take a page from his book and look out for yourself."

"Like Kaiba did in our duel?" Yami asked.

Anzu sighed. The truth was that working with Kaiba to defeat various bad guys was easier than forgiving – or liking – him. But she had come here to help. It had seemed so much simpler before she'd walked into Kaiba's mansion (and his bedroom) for the first time.

Anzu went back to the bed, half-expecting Kaiba to wake up just to make fun of her for sounding like such an emotional mess. "All right, I didn't mean it exactly." She turned to Yugi. "I'm scared. I can't stand it when you get down on yourself every time we meet up with Kaiba and things go wrong. All I can see is Duelists Kingdom when he cheated to win and then stood there laughing while you were kneeling on the ground crying!" She faced Kaiba again. "But that's not fair either, is it? You deserved every horrible thing I said back then. But not today. This is Bastet's fault, not yours." She shook her head. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. You keep saying that the past is meaningless. But it's hard to let go of it sometimes, isn't it? I promise to try, though."

Jounouchi went to the window and looked out.

"What? You yelled at him?" Mokuba said as he came back in the room.

"This whole situation… it just has me wound up. How about you, Mokuba? Is there anything you need?" Anzu said.

"I need my brother to wake up."

Yugi looked up with relief as Honda entered the room.

"Hi guys!" he said, then turned to the bed, looking uncertain before adding, "Hi, Kaiba… wow this feels weird."

"Talk to him all you want. Yugi said it helps," Jounouchi said.

Honda looked more confused than ever. "Uh… okay… sorry I'm late, Kaiba. My sister just got home. I swear her son, Jouji, gets more perverted every day. If I was her I'd be scared to have any more, but they're expecting a second one in a few months."

Even Mokuba had to laugh.

It was interesting, Kaiba thought, that you could kind of hear what was going on when you were in a coma. Not totally, of course - it wasn't like he could recount the details of a business meeting, if any had been held in his hospital room. But he was aware of Mokuba sitting by his bed. Mokuba seemed to have taken his laptop to the room and had kept reading aloud all the routine business emails and production details all day. It was familiar, soothing almost – except for the catch in Mokuba's voice every now and then. Kaiba assumed those were the moments when Mokuba paused and looked at him.

Then Yugi had arrived. Kaiba remembered hearing he'd been a regular visitor after Death-T as well. Kaiba snorted at that. If it'd been anyone else – Yugi's no longer invisible friend for example – Kaiba would have assumed that he'd shown up to gloat or to make sure Kaiba wasn't getting up any time soon. But Yugi had visited him when they'd been enemies. Kaiba figured it made sense he'd be an even more regular visitor now that they were allies. Yugi had probably managed to convince himself that made them friends, Kaiba thought, wishing he was able to roll his eyes.

Most of the rest of the geek squad had come as well. Jounouchi was a mostly silent if hostile presence. The girl that hung out with them was shrieking. At least she was consistent. She seemed to end up screaming at him every time they met. Kaiba was willing to concede – in the way people do when the matter at hand is of no importance – that she had every reason to dislike him.

The other Yugi wasn't there, of course, at least, not at first. Kaiba hadn't expected him. He wasn't sentimental like his smaller, softer partner. Kaiba had been a reluctant ally at best, and one whose usefulness had passed. But just as Kaiba had settled in his mind all the reasons his rival wouldn't show, he walked in the door.

Kaiba frowned thoughtfully. He could still sense Yugi's presence as well. He thought back to their last duel… how suddenly both Yugis had been standing side by side, seemingly identical, if you were ridiculously unobservant. Kaiba, for example, had told them apart instantly. The more familiar Yugi – the one he dueled – was slightly taller and infinitely more commanding. Even the golden stalks of hair on his head seemed thrust upwards into the sky, demanding attention.

"_I guess whatever Bastet did, stuck,"_ Kaiba thought with a sudden satisfaction that surprised him. What difference did it make how many little Yugis were running around Domino? But it did, especially now that the other Yugi was sitting by his bed and the rest of the loser brigade had left, especially now that the other Yugi had taken his hand and was speaking to him in those familiar commanding tones. Kaiba felt like if he just listened harder he could understand what the other Yugi was saying, as if his rival's words were burrowing their way into his consciousness.

"I have a name. It's Yami. I wanted you to know it."

Yami stared at Kaiba, sure that his rival was aware of him, hoping, somehow, that Kaiba had heard him. He sat watching each restless twitch of the other boy's body, as Kaiba tried to fight his way to consciousness by force of will alone. Yami grinned; it was so like Kaiba not to recognize any power greater than his own determination.

The sun went down. Mokuba turned on the lights. Kaiba's face smoothed itself out. Yami tried to tell himself it was a good sign, that his rival was resting comfortably, but he couldn't help feeling like Kaiba was curiously absent – even for a man in a coma. He waited, but the sense that Kaiba had disappeared grew stronger; only the steady rise and fall of his chest reassured Yami that Kaiba was still alive. Yami sighed as he finally got up, declining Mokuba's offer of a ride home. He wanted to walk.

Once the sun had set, the only thing Kaiba was aware of was the feeling of being small and defenseless, unprotected in a world that was too big for him to control. He knew the feeling and he hated it. Although he could no longer remember the details in his new form, it had accompanied him as he and Mokuba had gotten out of their uncle's car and stared at the orphanage for the first time. He'd sworn back then that he'd do whatever it took – as long as he never had to feel that way again.

But the tighter he tried the hang on to his memories, the harder he tried to think, the faster both slipped through his grasp. He was standing on a not-quite unfamiliar doorstep, left with nothing but an aching emptiness.

Logic may have deserted him, but his emotions were sharper, impossible to ignore or push aside. He looked at the door, knowing that warmth and comfort lay behind it. He felt a welcoming presence, as if now – when he was more vulnerable than he'd ever been before, there was someone ready to help.

And that was the worst feeling of all.

Trust was the one game, even in this form, he knew better than to play. He backed away from that treacherous emotion. Then anger came to his rescue as it always had. Unlike that deceptive door with its false promise of shelter, anger was dependable; it was his one true refuge.

He hissed at the door as if it was his enemy, then deliberately turned, squatted down and peed on the pavement next to it. He stared at his handiwork in satisfaction for a moment, then raced down the alley, running fast enough to extinguish the small flicker of hope it had sparked.

Yami stared into the darkness as he approached the Kame Game Shop.

"I could have sworn I saw a cat on the doorstep," Yami said as he entered the Mutou's apartment.

"We just met an eight foot tall goddess with a cat head who gave you your own body and put one of our friends in a coma. I'm surprised we're not seeing cats everywhere we go," Yugi pointed out.

"I guess you're right," Yami said, but he couldn't resist taking one backwards glance at the empty street outside before he closed the door.

* * *

.

_**Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter and encouraging me, always. **_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Writing this chapter was a bit of a balancing act. I think Yugi's friends would want to help Kaiba – after all, they dash off to save him pretty regularly in the series. But I think some of them would find rescuing Kaiba easier than being friends with him. Anzu frequently gets frustrated by Kaiba's screw you attitude and the way he treats his life so carelessly. Jounouchi is the one to tell Yami in Noa's world that he's willing to risk being turned to stone rather than abandon Kaiba. But at the same time, he gets angry at the dismissive way Kaiba treats him.

I'm not sure, even after Noa's World, that any of the gang (except maybe Yugi and Yami) have ever thought about why Kaiba's the distrustful, aloof, friendship-what's-that jerk they come to know, which makes sense given that they've been on the receiving end of his sneering comments. So I think there's a real back and forth to how they feel about Kaiba and while I wanted to show them being willing to help him, I also wanted their feelings to be complicated by Kaiba's own abrasive personality. I started to feel like Goldilocks because the first version was too mean and the second was too nice. So, I'd really like to know how you think that part of it worked out.

_Note to Jeanna:_ Thank you! I agree – a Hello Kitty crossover with Kaiba would be hilarious!

**Review Note: **I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._


	3. Look What the Cat Dragged In

**CHAPTER 3: LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN**

Kaiba wanted to write last night off as a weird dream – but he didn't believe in dreams. He never had before, and saw no reason to change. Instead, he started sifting the events of the previous night through his mind. He stopped, gagging, wishing that he could vomit up the sudden swirl of emotions, the overpowering sense of helplessness that threatened to eat its way through his guts. He thrashed on the bed, vaguely aware of Mokuba in the chair next to him; he was thankful that Mokuba was asleep and unaware.

Last night, Kaiba had been forced to drink in every hated measure of defenselessness that he'd ever experienced. Now, reliving it, he felt just as violated. He'd sworn never to let anyone make him feel that vulnerable again, yet another vow that turned out to be beyond his power to keep. Last night, he'd been an unwanted six year old again, watching his father stumble into the house late at night, too blinded by grief to see his children, an unwanted eight year old, dumped at the orphanage with his brother like a pair of stray dogs… the unwanted ten year old who'd met Gozaburo and learned what true powerlessness was.

"Hurting you wasn't my purpose." Bastet's voice was – for her – gentle.

Kaiba snarled, "Don't flatter yourself. There's nothing you can dish out that I can't take, no matter what kind of head games you try to play."

"Not everything is a game, hard as that is for you to accept." She shook her head. "You can't keep pushing all your emotions away."

"Why not? It's worked for me so far," Kaiba jeered.

"Has it? The harder you fight them, the stronger their hold on you becomes. You're close to suffocating under the weight of all the things you refuse to feel."

Kaiba maintained a sullen silence. He wanted to argue, but he wasn't sure what to say, especially to a being that seemed able to read his mind well enough to detect the bullshit in whatever rebuttal he made. Somewhere along the way, the life he had so carefully constructed had turned into a labyrinth, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find the blueprint or key. Sometimes being Seto Kaiba was exhausting. Somehow, Bastet knew that. It was intolerable.

"I'll never forgive you," he said, his words all the more vehement because they were quietly spoken. "If I ever have a chance for revenge, I'll take it, if it's the last thing I do."

"I know."

The sadness in her voice managed to pierce his anger and resentment. He didn't reply.

After a pause she added, "You may want to consider, now that you have use of your faculties again, that you faced all of the helplessness and despair you felt as a child – and once again you have survived. Painful emotions are not the only ones the world has to offer. But you can't experience one unless you are willing to accept the other."

"Of course I survived. It's what I do best – besides outwitting my enemies," he said, ignoring the second half of her speech.

Kaiba smiled in satisfaction when she refused to answer. The silence stretched between them. Kaiba hated Bastet, but he didn't mind having her around to spar with. He was tired of being alone with his thoughts. The presence of an enemy was bracing, even paradoxically comforting; it was good to have someone…

"To sharpen your claws against?" Bastet finished his thought aloud. A note of amused malice was back in her voice as if the softer tones had never been spoken or heard.

Kaiba didn't trust Bastet, but their exchange had steadied him. And now that he was calmer, he was relieved to realize that, as Bastet had promised, his eidetic memory still functioned as well as it always had – even if it had much less material to work with than usual. When he searched his mind for thoughts or conclusions he drew a blank. Only images and the emotions that went with them remained, and he was prepared for them now. Since they were all he had to work with, he sorted through them, trying to find a pattern to analyze.

Everything had looked laughably, surreally big – or else he had been obscenely small. He seemed to have been standing on four _paws_; he'd caught glimpses of them when he'd looked down. When he'd grown annoyed he had a tail to twitch (something he refused to see as an improvement on the human equivalent of drumming his fingers on his desk.)

There was one impossible, inescapable conclusion…

"God or not, I'm going to kill you for turning me into a cat!"

"I fail to understand the objection," Bastet replied. Her eyes were shining with an impish glee that could be seen even in the darkness that surrounded Kaiba.

As furious as he was, Kaiba couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping. "I bet you don't."

"I'm glad you agree," Bastet said.

"The hell I do, you bitch!"

She sighed with exaggerated patience. Kaiba ground his teeth at the sound.

"No dog insults. They pain me. Besides, everything I'm doing is for your own good," she said, smugly.

Kaiba snorted. "Bullshit. If I listened to what people say, everything that anyone's ever done to me has been for my own good."

"And you've met no exceptions?"

"Not until I was big and powerful enough that people tried to destroy me to my face instead of behind my back. Before that… I was supposed to leave Mokuba in an orphanage without a backwards glance for my own good. I was supposed to become Gozaburo's soulless puppet for my own good – or Kaiba Corporation's, it came to the same thing with Gozaburo. Why should I believe you? It's never true."

"What of the pharaoh? In the aftermath of Death-T, everything he did turned out to be for your own good, didn't it?"

Kaiba snorted. "Yami wasn't trying to help. He was trying to hit me where it hurts and he succeeded."

"How did you know that his name is 'Yami?'" Bastet asked, a slight lilt in her voice.

"He told me. What does it matter?"

"Really? When?"

Kaiba paused. He'd been unconscious. Logically, he shouldn't have understood anything Yami had said. But Yami's voice had been urgent; it had managed to pierce the haze that was surrounding him. Yami had wanted his rival to know his name that badly. And Kaiba had heard him.

Bastet purred, a smooth, self-satisfied sound. "Are you're still so sure that even back then, he didn't want to help?"

Kaiba frowned, remembering. Death-T had ended. He'd lost. He'd stood in the darkness waiting for death. Yami had said he'd hated Kaiba; he'd sworn never to forgive. It was time for him to make good on his promises.

Yami had marched right into his mind. Kaiba had been chasing power his whole life, but this was something far beyond conventional might. Yami had invaded the innermost, secret center of his being, an intrusion so great that Kaiba could only stand there, stunned, watching.

Then his world had shattered. For a minute, he'd been convinced that he'd died. The truth had been infinitely better and unimaginably more shameful. He'd been broken back to himself, as easily as you'd crack an egg to find the yolk inside. But once broken, he'd been able to rebuild.

Painful as it had been – and humiliating as it was to acknowledge that someone had held that kind of power over him – it had been exactly what he'd needed. Kaiba never denied the truth, no matter how bitter.

There was no logical reason why Yami should have cared what happened to him, or why at this late date, Kaiba would want him to. But now that it had entered his mind, Kaiba couldn't quite shake the suspicion (he refused to dignify it by calling it a hope) that right from the beginning it had mattered to Yami whether Kaiba lived or died – and even more importantly – whether he lived and died with honor.

Despite all the times that Yami had told Kaiba he respected him, despite all the times Yami had insisted that they were friends, Kaiba had never quite believed him. Now he wondered if he'd simply been shutting his eyes and then announcing it was too dark to see.

Kaiba looked around with a start. While he'd been thinking about Yami, Bastet had slipped away.

Mokuba opened his eyes and stretched in the cramped chair. It had seemed comfortable enough when he'd fallen asleep sometime in the middle of the night. He leaned forward and hesitantly shook his brother's shoulder.

"Wake up, Nisama," he said.

There was no change. It was just like Death-T. Only this time his brother had done everything right. He'd been fighting to save them all. He was the only one who'd managed to keep his head when Yami had suddenly appeared and his reward for all of that was to have some crazy cat-goddess throw him into a coma while Yugi and Jounouchi got off scot-free and Yami even got a body out of the deal.

"It's not fair… it's not fair… it's not fair!" he yelled.

Mokuba glanced at the bed, half expecting his brother to wake up just so that he could remind Mokuba that life wasn't fair, that whining about it didn't help, that all that mattered was fighting life on your terms and winning.

But his brother was silent. It was one more proof that this was all real. Kaiba's forehead wrinkled, his lips turned down, almost like he knew how upset Mokuba was.

"It's okay, Nisama," Mokuba said, forcing a soothing tone into his voice. He grabbed Kaiba's hand. "I miss you. I'll wait for you. Yugi and his friends are going to do everything they can. I'm sure they can find a way out of this. It's their fault too. Don't worry."

Mokuba smiled as his brother's face relaxed; it made it feel like, despite everything, they were still connected.

Yugi and Yami were also waking up and trying to avoid bumping into each other; the cot set up hurriedly in Yugi's room had made it even more crowded. Yami had gotten dressed. He'd borrowed a clean T-shirt and underwear; he was still in the pants and copy of Yugi's jacket that he'd been wearing during their duel.

"Are you going back to Kaiba's?" Yugi asked as Yami put his boots on; they were also a duplicate of Yugi's.

Yami nodded glumly. For once, he let his shoulders slump as he shook his head. "I don't want to leave Mokuba alone… and I feel better, sitting there."

"Poor Mokuba."

Yami pushed himself off the wall and paced the narrow alley between his makeshift, hastily added bed and Yugi's older, more familiar one. "He's angry. I let his brother down."

"You didn't!" Yugi insisted.

Yami looked at him and Yugi was reminded of the laser-sharp glare that accompanied all their duels.

"What would you call it? Kaiba was my rival but he was also my friend. How many times – at Battle City, in his stepbrother's accursed virtual world, fighting DOMA – would I have gone on to defeat without Kaiba challenging me? I swore after DOMA that was never happening again, and I let him slip through my fingers one more time. And the worst thing is: I think he was expecting it. But he's wrong. Trust is more than a word. I'm his friend. I'll always be there for him. It's time he knew that. I'm going to keep after him until he does."

"So you want him to wake up just so you can lecture him?" Yugi asked.

"Maybe," Yami answered with a reluctant grin.

The walk to the mansion was peaceful. He nodded to the butler who let him in and ran up the stairs to Kaiba's bedroom. He smiled at the sight of Mokuba holding his brother's hands.

Mokuba looked up. "Have you found a way to fix this?"

"Not yet," Yami said as he sat down next to Mokuba by Kaiba's bed.

"I thought you'd have figured it out by now! Why did you bother coming, then?"

"Your brother is my friend." Yami shrugged slightly. "I feel closer to him, here. Yesterday, at times, it almost felt like he was with us, like he knew what was going on."

Mokuba looked down; he nodded quickly.

"Maybe he knows I'm here. That I care," Yami said.

He cared more than he had realized, Yami thought as he sat there staring at Kaiba's unresponsive face. Kaiba was his rival and his friend. But in that abandoned warehouse, he'd suddenly become aware of himself as a person, as more than Yugi's partner… and Kaiba had been in his arms. Holding Kaiba had felt right, like it was what he was meant to do. He hadn't wanted to surrender his rival – even to Mokuba and Isono.

He reached out and stroked Kaiba's hair, surprised by the sudden flash of possession jolting through his system. He glanced at Mokuba, then dropped his hand to briefly clasp Kaiba's shoulder.

"I'm here," he said, not sure if he was reminding Kaiba or himself of his existence.

Yami was right about one thing. Kaiba was aware of his presence.

Awake, Kaiba didn't like being touched. The memories it brought up were rarely pleasant. Now, Kaiba found it unexpectedly soothing. He was aware of Yami's voice. Given how often he'd taunted Yami for his pompous speeches, he was surprised to find that he liked the sound of it. The urgent tones warmed him, reminded him that he was alive, that Yami was waiting for him to wake up so that their rivalry could continue. Kaiba wished he could answer Yami, even if it was only with a jibe or a grunt, but he knew his rival's name now… and that was, barely, enough.

Jounouchi was worried to find Yami still there when he arrived for what he had started to think of as his shift a little later in the day.

"What are you still doing here?"

"Sitting," Yami answered with a grin. "Besides, Mokuba had to go take care of some business at Kaiba Corporation."

"I'm serious, Yami. What about when the kid gets back? What's it going to take for you to do some hard-core partying?"

"Kaiba waking up."

"Dude, you have your own body! You could go anywhere and do anything you wanted. I can't stand watching you waste a minute of it!"

"I'm not. Jounouchi, being here for Kaiba is what I want to do. You have to accept that I know my own mind. Kaiba is my friend. How dare you suggest I abandon him? If he's to have any chance at all…"

"That crazy cat lady said it was his fault he'd wound up like this," Jounouchi said. Despite his best efforts, Jounouchi sounded defensive.

"It was our fault as well and you know it," Yami said. "Yes, I have a life. Have you forgotten it's an existence Kaiba helped me to gain? I'm not beginning that life by turning my back on a friend. When he wakes up, we can celebrate together."

Jounouchi frowned. He had to hand it to Yami. No one was better at handing your head to you – and having it be for your own good.

Mokuba's reappearance ended the argument, although Jounouchi wondered uneasily how much – if anything – he'd heard.

Anzu and Yugi came by after Jounouchi's somewhat abrupt exit. Anzu sat down and smiled at Kaiba. He didn't react. He wouldn't have smiled back even if he had been awake, Anzu thought glumly. She wished someone would say something to break the tension, but no one did. So she just kept smiling fixedly at Kaiba until her expression lost any claim to genuineness and was merely a tribute to her stubbornness in refusing to let the corners of her mouth droop.

Anzu couldn't help but notice that Mokuba was obviously unimpressed with her efforts. As soon as she'd walked through the door, he'd fixed puppy-dog eyes on her as if waiting for her to wave a wand and save his brother. Then his gaze had hardened to a hostile glare that matched anything his brother had ever thrown her way, before softening into hopeful anxiety. And then, the cycle had started again. Anzu couldn't decide which of his expressions made her feel worse.

She drew in a breath and sobbed. "I don't know how to fix this. I can't even talk to him!"

Yugi held her hand. "It's okay, Anzu."

"No, it isn't," Mokuba hissed back, furiously.

"He's right, Yugi. I'm letting everyone down. You know I want to help, Mokuba…" Anzu broke off and ran from the room. Yugi followed.

"It really will be okay," he said, hugging her.

"How can you keep saying that?" she asked, leaning her head down to rest it on his shoulder.

"Because no matter what happens, we always end up seeing each other through it. We'll do it again."

Anzu smiled against his shoulder. "You've grown up so much. Sometimes I can't believe you're the same boy who needed me to defend you."

Yugi grinned back. "I've had a lot of help along the way. And I still need you to defend me, any time you want… honest! Come on. Let me walk you home. You look like you can use some fresh air."

They said their goodbyes quickly. Yami accompanied them to the door then went back to Kaiba's room. He left as night fell and walked back to the game shop. He let his shoulders sag with weariness; there was no one to see. He straightened up only as he approached home. At odd moments during the day, he'd found himself wondering if there really had been a cat waiting for him on his doorstep, or if – as Yugi had suggested – it had been a mirage.

This time there was no doubt.

It was a half-starved, half-grown alley cat. It had left the cuddly cuteness of kitten-hood far behind, although Yami doubted the gangly creature on his doorstep had ever been appealing in the first place. The cat walked with the stiff legged gait of an adolescent tom; his silver-gray coat gave him a faintly reptilian look in the fading light. His only attractive feature was a pair of impossibly blue eyes – and they were narrowed in anger.

It was the kind of animal you just knew was never going to be adopted. Yami watched it circle the sidewalk in front of the apartment entrance next to the game shop before sitting and glaring at Yami as if annoyed at being kept waiting for an appointment that could only result in disappointment anyway. It was amazing, Yami thought, how clearly he could tell that the cat expected him to go into the house and slam the door in its face. Something about the wary, proud way it waited for rejection made Yami decide to hold the door open instead.

Besides, cats were the emissaries of Bastet, the goddess of joy and love, and Yami didn't want to take any chances.

"It looks like someone followed you home," Yugi said as Yami entered.

"He was on the doorstep," Yami said. He looked the cat over now that they were in the brightly lit hallway. The clear light didn't help. None of the traditional words he'd heard used to describe kittens – like adorable or cute – seemed to apply to the beast that had managed to slink into the house without losing its arrogant air.

"He's got pretty eyes," Yugi said, his voice rising just enough to turn his sentence into a question.

"Yes, he does," Yami said gratefully. "I hope it's okay," he added as Sugoroku came into the hallway.

A dog would have had the sense to look beseechingly at them, begging with eyes stretched to their widest for a taste of the dinner that could be clearly scented from the kitchen. A dog would have wagged its tail and flattened its ears to the ground submissively.

This cat was clearly lacking in dog sense – or possibly any in sense at all. The eyes they'd just complimented narrowed to slits. Its tail was twitching in annoyance rather than wagging, and if its head was slightly lowered, that was only because it was deciding whether to attack.

Yami chuckled, finding its stupid, stubborn surliness, its eagerness to choose defiance over food, unexpectedly enchanting.

Yugi's grandfather had always thought of himself as a cat person. Sugoroku had to admit though that he'd seldom seen a less appealing feline than the one crouched in his hallway, glaring at him from slitted eyes as if the cat owned the place and _he_ was the intruder. But the look on Yami's face was nervous and hopeful and so damn young that Sugoroku knew he was defeated, even before he heard Yami laugh. He'd never heard Yam's laugh before – not in all the times he'd seen the young man duel in his grandson's place, not in the days since he'd gained a body. It was as if the price Kaiba had paid had taken the joy out of the gift.

If this belligerent animal could cheer Yami up…

"In the morning it goes to the vet for shots and a flea collar. We'd better find a cardboard box it can use as a litter box for the night," Sugoroku said, having learned over the years when to bow to the inevitable.

"I'll go for cat food and kitty litter," Yugi volunteered as he headed out the door.

Yami looked at Sugoroku, who sighed in response. "All right, it can have some left-over chicken."

Yami and the cat ate together. After dinner, Yami took his new pet upstairs. He was glad Yugi was watching television with his grandfather; the cat was skittish, he might settle down easier if it was just the two of them.

Yami's grip on the frantically squirming creature slipped as they reached his room. The cat bolted inside. Yami followed. He smiled as the cat stalked around the room, sniffing into corners, warily scanning for traps and overseeing its new domain all at the same time.

"You're an arrogant little thing aren't you? I bet you don't even know you're just a half-grown ball of fluff," Yami said as he scooped the cat up and dropped it on his cot. He reached out to pet the beast. The cat reacted instantly, arching its back and swiping at the hand moving towards its head. Yami jerked back his hand as the cat's claws found their target.

He stared at the hissing cat; every bristle of short gray fur was standing on end. Yami glanced down at his stinging hand. The bleeding had stopped. The scratch was long but shallow; the cat's claws hadn't reached their full adult hardness yet. Yami sat back on the cot and leaned against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief when the cat relaxed as well.

"You know all too well what it's like to be totally defenseless and unprotected don't you? And you hate it." Yami chuckled. "I don't blame you. I'd feel the same. I might even lash out at anyone who reminded me of just how small I was – although I hope I'd have more self-control."

The cat sank into the cot. Yami wondered if he'd noticed the softness of the blankets. It was hard to tell. The cat was staring at him unblinkingly, but his narrowed blue eyes were curiously opaque.

"You don't have to worry. You're mine now. I'll take care of you," Yami promised.

Unfortunately the cat didn't seem to have shared Yami's conviction that he'd found a home. He found a way to escape during the night. At least, that's what Yami, Yugi and Sugoroku decided when the cat was gone in the morning.

* * *

_**.**_

_**Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter.**_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I've always been a sucker for fairy tales where one of the characters gets turned into a bear or a swan or even a frog – especially those sundown to sun-up deals. The characters in those stories usually stay themselves mentally, not matter how much their bodies have changed, but since this story is about emotions to a large extent, I wanted to put Kaiba in a situation where logic and strategic planning and all the tools he uses wouldn't be at his disposal for at least part of the time.

If you're going to turn a character into a cat, it's always a temptation to make them a fluffy kitten – except I can't imagine putting "Kaiba" and "fluffy" in the same sentence unless there's a "not" in there somewhere. And when I thought about the kind of cat Kaiba might become, a snarly, half-grown alley cat that's been kicked around once too often was what came to mind. I really tried to have the cat be recognizable as Kaiba while keeping him a cat. I'd love to know if that worked or not.

_Note to Desidera:_ I left a longer answer on my LieJournal, but if you see this: Of course I remember you!

_Note to Cera:_ Thanks! I left a fuller answer on my Livejournal account. I went with third person instead of first person narration mainly because Kaiba is a cat for part of the story, and I sometimes wanted to describe what the cat was feeling – but having a cat actually narrate seemed a bit too far even for me (lol).

_Note to Michelle:_ Yes, I'm definitely planning on finishing!

**Review Note:**I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._


	4. It's a CATastrophe

**MANGA NOTE:** One of the most chilling frames in the manga is from Kaiba's childhood. You see him feverishly studying while wearing a dog collar. Gozaburo is standing behind Seto, laughing while holding up his head with a riding crop. It's a seriously creepy moment.

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**CHAPTER 4: IT'S** **A **_**CAT**_**ASTROPHE**

In Kaiba's experience, people cheated differently when they'd never known anything but power. They didn't cheat out of a desperation so strong that the stench of it stayed in your nostrils… instead they cheated easily, almost playfully; it was just another birthright.

Bastet had told him he could spend the days puzzling out what had happened the night before. He'd known she was lying. The catch in Bastet's promise had been a simple one. He'd discovered it the moment he'd regained human awareness and tried to sort through his memories of the previous night. Unlike his expectations, he hadn't simply been able to hit "rewind" and "play" before settling down to view a series of high definition images.

The emotions were there. Kaiba had thought he was prepared – only to be thrown by an unexpected, unsettling feeling of hope. It collided instantly with the unshakeable belief that betrayal would follow giving in as naturally as day had followed night. He gagged as the seesawing mix of emotions roiled through him. It was all oddly familiar, but Kaiba couldn't place it beyond the vague recognition that he'd felt this way before. He'd spent his lifetime discounting his emotions; he was out of practice at reading them.

He tried to focus on the images from the night before, but it was impossible. His cat's eye view of the world just didn't meld with his human consciousness. The pictures were stored somewhere in his brain as Bastet had promised, but without a context to drop them into, they remained inaccessible. Something about the night, beyond the mix of emotions, had seemed familiar. He couldn't say why.

He ploughed ahead stubbornly, trying to latch on to any memory that would help. But the one thing that surfaced wasn't an image at all. He could remember the smell and taste of chicken. It had been heavenly. And yet, delicious as it was, it hadn't been a meal prepared and seasoned by a professional chef. It had been something someone's mom would have made.

He finally placed that elusive smell, a trail that led still further into his past. Without warning, he was a five year old boy playing with his Legos on the floor, sometime before Mokuba was born. He'd been totally absorbed in his construction project – up until the moment when the smell of chicken had reached his nostrils. One whiff and he was immediately impatient for dinner, running into the kitchen as fast as his legs could carry him… running to his mother.

It was funny how he'd lost his appetite in the intervening years, how food had simply become nutrients to be consumed at the proper time. Once chicken had meant safety and home and all the things he'd stopped believing in.

He scowled at the darkness surrounding him, annoyed at how easily he'd let himself be distracted by a stray memory, especially one he hadn't thought of in years since it, like the notion of safety, had no place in his life any more. But when he went back to review the previous night again, he realized another memory had surfaced. He'd been surrounded by these huge alien shapes. He grinned, somewhat amused, despite his predicament, that this is what humans must have looked like to him. There had been a lot of them. That should have spelt danger. Although he was faster and more agile, they had been so big; they could have easily killed him. But they hadn't. Instead they seemed associated with the smell of food. Kaiba wondered if they'd fed him, but that seemed unlikely. Possibly they'd gone about their business while he'd been distracted by the smell of their dinner through a half open window.

Kaiba smiled in satisfaction. He'd made some progress this morning, if one ignored the odd tangent of suddenly remembering his mother's cooking. He'd managed to retrieve a memory from the night before – even if it had been an unclear and useless one. But any more research into last night would have to wait. Mokuba had just stretched in his chair and opened his eyes.

Mokuba had refused to sleep in his own bed. It didn't feel right to be all comfy, tucked in under a cloud of blankets when his brother was in trouble. He wanted to be strong like his Nisama had taught him to be. He'd tried to hide his fears as best he could, even from Yugi and the gang, to be as badass as his brother, at least when any one could see… but he was alone now, except for the brother who wasn't awake to chide him, even if he cried.

At that thought, Mokuba broke. He sobbed until he could no longer sit up, not caring how loud his howls got, not even pausing to wipe his running nose, barely noticing as his throat started to ache. He felt better, or at least quieter, when he finished, almost drained enough to go back to sleep.

It had only been a couple of days. But somehow, seeing his brother like this had made the last year and a half vanish, and Mokuba was a kid again, sitting at his brother's bedside in the months following Death-T, waiting for him to wake up… unsure that those blue eyes would ever open again… uncertain who to trust: the brother that had tried to kill him or the man who had rescued them both.

Kaiba could hear Mokuba crying. And he couldn't do a thing about it. Throughout the years so many things had kept him apart from his brother, even when they'd been walking side by side. Now Kaiba was less than a foot away, with all the time in the world and nothing to fill it with – and he couldn't reach out to hug his brother.

He also heard when the sobs stopped and the steel came back into Mokuba's voice.

"I hate this! When Yugi and the gang showed up, I figured everything was on the way to being fixed. But Yami were Yugi are as clueless as you always said they were; Anzu spent yesterday crying about how useless she is and all Jounouchi could go on about was how Yami might miss a movie like that mattered more than you!" Mokuba lowered his voice and muttered, "Yami might as well go out partying and take the rest of those worthless idiots with him. It's not like they're doing any good, anyway." Mokuba got out of his chair, unable to sit a minute longer. "Fuck Bastet. She better not show her face around here unless she wants to find out if curiosity really does kill the cat."

He stopped as his brother moved restlessly on the bed, his face drawn, his hands clenched, muscles tense and twitching.

Kaiba recognized the bone-deep fury in Mokuba's voice. It matched his own rage-filled tirades. He'd never heard Mokuba sound like that before though, and Kaiba couldn't help wondering if Mokuba's anger was new, or if he'd never stopped moving long enough to hear it before.

Mokuba was so furious over what had happened he was blaming everyone in sight. If Kaiba had been awake and everything had been business as usual, he would have cut the conversation off before it could begin. He might even, Kaiba admitted to himself reluctantly, have gotten mad at Mokuba's presumption in thinking he needed help. It was like a beagle rushing out to defend a wolfhound. No, Kaiba thought with an inward smile: Mokuba was a pit bull, not a beagle. Small as he was, he'd learned how to bite deep and hang on. And that suddenly – the heat in Mokuba's voice warmed Kaiba as well.

Mokuba reached over and gently opened one of his brother's hands and clasped it.

"It's okay. You saved us all. I just want you back. And you can do it all on your own without them. You're the best brother ever."

Mokuba wondered if there really was a slight smile on his brother's lips or if it was a trick of the light.

As much as Mokuba resented the gang for being awake when his brother wasn't, it was almost a relief when Yami arrived. He even managed to work up a small smile when Jounouchi appeared a half hour later.

Jounouchi had only the best of intentions when he walked into Kaiba's bedroom. But when he saw Yami, sitting in what had already become his place by Kaiba's bedside, he couldn't help but groan, "Not again. I know you want to help him, but take a break, Yami. Kaiba will still be here if you went out to a movie or an arcade or something."

"Did you come over to help my brother or did you want to chat with Yami and you figure Nisama's some kind of odd room decoration?" Mokuba asked sarcastically.

Jounouchi's face turned red. It was hard to tell if he was flushed with embarrassment or anger. "I got wound up seeing Yami stuck here day after day."

"My brother's the one in the coma and you're sad that _Yami's_ stuck here? Well, both of you can leave!"

"Calm yourself," Yami ordered. "We need to solve this puzzle if your brother is to wake up. I have no intention of abandoning him and if I understood Bastet correctly, you need our help. Going it alone is your brother's mistake; it's his contribution to this sorry mess. You better be prepared to acknowledge that – and accept all offers of help, whether they're phrased in the way you want or not."

Mokuba scowled at Jounouchi. "Help?" he asked – and the one word was a challenge.

Jounouchi flushed again, and then was angry with himself for feeling defensive. Even a baby Kaiba was a pain, he thought resentfully.

"Look kid, if there was something I could think of to do, I would. Your brother's never been the flavor of the month with me, but that doesn't mean I was rooting for him to end up like this."

"Doesn't it? I heard at Duelists Kingdom you said he deserved it when Pegasus stole his soul! Maybe you're the reason he's still in a coma!"

"He'd just tried to kill me and my friends! Of course I was mad! That doesn't mean I still feel that way. Damn. I don't know how I feel – and right now, that's the best I can do. Your brother's a monumental jerk, and him lying here doesn't change that."

Mokuba turned away. He wanted to throw Jounouchi out of the room. He didn't care that his brother had insulted Jounouchi every time they'd met. He didn't see why he had to worry about niceties like fairness when no one else cared that what had happened to his brother was totally, fucking _unfair_. Mokuba glared out the window – it seemed safer than looking at Jounouchi.

Jounouchi looked from Mokuba to Yami and then back to Kaiba. He shook his head and frowned. He'd never meant to upset the kid. Unfortunately that was when Jounouchi decided a little humor would help defuse the situation. He shook Kaiba's shoulder. "Hey, wake up sleepyhead!"

Mokuba turned from the window to glare at him in disbelief.

"Wait, I know what works on me when I fall asleep in class…" Jounouchi added as he jammed his fingers into Kaiba's side. "Come on, uppy… uppy… uppy! Wow… did you ever think I'd get to take a poke at Kaiba without getting my ass kicked?"

"Nisama always said you were a bully at heart," Mokuba said in the coldest, flattest voice Jounouchi had ever heard him use.

"Lighten up, kid. And you're brother's wrong about me, not that he's right on much of anything else."

"You know why he always sneered at you? He said you reminded him of the kids at the orphanage, the ones who got off on picking on anyone littler than them, just so they'd feel bigger themselves. He said that he could smell the blood on your fists."

Jounouchi scowled. He could remember all the times he'd roughed Yugi up, how he'd stolen his Puzzle piece just to see if he'd cry.

"He wasn't wrong, was he? I can see it in your face," Mokuba said, as relentless as his older brother when he smelled blood in the water.

"He wasn't wrong about the guy I'd been before we'd ever met. But damn straight he's wrong about me now. The hell with you and your brother and this whole charade!" Jounouchi yelled, slamming the door as he left the room.

"You might as well go, too, Yami. Go out and party like Jounouchi said. I don't know why you're here and this isn't going to work. If you guys really cared, my brother would be awake," Mokuba said.

Yami ignored him.

"Well?" Mokuba hissed, his eyes narrowed in challenge.

"Your brother is my friend. Jounouchi will come around. You can use the time until he does to learn some patience."

"Nobody but my brother gets to tell me what to do! "

Yami smiled. "You sound like Kaiba at Battle City."

"Well, who else should I sound like?"

"He said that my definition of partnership was him following my orders," Yami continued.

"I know what he said. I was the Battle City Commissioner remember? I saw feeds of all the duels," Mokuba snapped.

"Then you know how hard it was for your brother to hold his temper, to be part of a team. But he did it for you. I've always respected your brother but I've rarely been prouder of him than on that day."

"Why are you blaming me? It was all Jounouchi!"

"No, it wasn't. I've watched your brother struggle to rise above his own hatred and anger. Can you do less? In your own fear and bitterness, you lost sight of the most important point: Jounouchi didn't know that I was here. He didn't come for me; he came to help."

"He doesn't care if my brother ever wakes up. Not really."

"I don't know how Jounouchi feels. I suspect, neither does he. He's never had to think about it before. No one wants to let you down."

"You should all be worried about letting my brother down instead!"

"Your brother isn't the one glaring at us through tears while waiting for us to fail." Yami gave a short, choked off laugh. "If anything, your brother would be surprised anyone showed up at all. That's part of the problem." He turned back to Kaiba and held his hand. "I'm here, Kaiba. I'm here. Take as long as you need until you can believe that."

"You really care about him, don't you?" Mokuba asked quietly.

Yami nodded. "I didn't realize how much. I think one needs to have a body to be truly alive." He turned to Kaiba again. "For the first time, I have a future. I can see it, stretching out in all directions. It's wondrous." He chuckled. "We argue every time we meet. Why do I feel like you'll understand? Maybe it's because you see the future as something worth fighting for, even when you get consumed by the battle. I never understood why it was so important to you. Now I know. And you were right." He chuckled again and put his hand on top of Kaiba's. "I have to believe that wherever you're wandering now, part of you just heard me admit that you beat me at something – and you did it in style."

Mokuba knew enough to stay quiet, to let Yami continue to hold his brother's hand and talk. His smile was genuinely grateful when Yami finally got up to leave, once again refusing the offer of a ride home.

The cat was waiting when Yami reached the game shop; a faint blur of silver-gray, half hidden by the night.

"It's good to see you," Yami said. He held the door open.

The cat hesitated, then entered, wary of the promise of safety that seemed to exist, like a mirage, just over the threshold. The cat might not know much, but it knew this: it was when you felt safe that the blow inevitably fell.

But the part of him that couldn't think, that couldn't do anything but feel, no matter how hard he tried, that treacherous part liked this house with its promise of food and warmth and a word he would never have called to mind, even if he was in his normal form: comfort.

Even the voice speaking to him was carefully quiet. The cat relaxed into the soothing sounds, unable to understand the words, as Yami said, "You don't look like you have fleas, but Ji-chan says this will make you more comfortable."

He shut his eyes in pleasure and leaned into that voice. That was when the heavy collar slammed around his neck. He knew collars; the harsh leather bit into your neck when you tried to sleep. The inside was so rough it might as well been lined with sandpaper, a constant chafing reminder of bondage and humiliation and pain. It was only a matter of time before it was yanked suffocatingly tight, before the blows fell… before he was punished for daring to exist.

The cat tensed, then hissed, his entire body radiating fury at this house for betraying its promise of sanctuary and at himself for forgetting… everything. He launched himself forward, wanting only escape.

A large hostile presence barred the way out. He launched himself at his enemy, claws outstretched, knowing only that life was battle and that losing was death. It darted out of his way. He gained the hallway, skidded into another room, aware only of his need to be free of this place with its entwined promises of comfort and betrayal.

"Where's he gone?" Yugi asked worriedly as he ran past Jounouchi and Anzu back into the living room with Yami on his heels.

Yami scanned the room. "He's not here." Yami spotted a slightly open window. "Could he have jumped out before we came in? It doesn't seem like he had enough time."

"He must have gotten out somehow," Yugi pointed out.

Yami opened the window and shut it. "He's not outside. It's like last night. He just disappeared."

"Good riddance," Jounouchi said as he entered the room.

"Yami likes him," Anzu pointed out, following Jounouchi and swatting him on the arm.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes at her tone – and her readiness to smack him. It was a shame she was an only child; she would have made the perfect big sister.

"Yami couldn't like that nasty beast. He just feels sorry for it. Forget about it already. C'mon Yugi, let's play," Jounouchi said, grabbing a game controller.

"Stop it Jounouchi!" Anzu scolded. She snatched the controller out of his hands and pointing it threateningly at him. "He's just a baby. He probably doesn't even have a home."

"I'm not surprised if this is how he acts. Didn't you see him take a swipe at me? If I hadn't jumped I'd be bleeding all over Yugi's floor by now!" Jounouchi objected.

"Are you telling me you're afraid of a little, bitty kitten?" Anzu said.

"I'm telling you, there's something creepy about that cat."

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_**T****hanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter and helping me hash out cat memory transference.**_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** To everyone who asked what Kaiba would be able to remember – I hope this chapter gave some answers. Thanks, it really helped me work out what I needed to say to make things clearer.

Thanks to Indigo_8 for catching a missing word in the previous chapter.

**Mokuba Note:** I can see Mokuba being better able to trust – and certainly more willing to beg for help – than his elder brother. But I also think it's likely that his belief in other people's willingness to help them would be kind of fragile, because people being genuinely concerned with their welfare hasn't really been part of the Kaiba brothers' lives. Ironically, the fact that Mokuba is more able to trust can be attributed directly to Kaiba, himself. For as long as he could, Kaiba put Mokuba first, and up until Death-T, and after, was someone Mokuba could depend on. So when he was faced with a setback, I could see Mokuba falling back into the belief that he and his brother are on their own.

**Jounouchi Note:** Although Mokuba wouldn't agree, I think Jounouchi's attitude is pretty reasonable. Of course he's more concerned with Yami than with Kaiba – Yami's one of his best friends. I find writing the dynamic between Kaiba and Yugi's friends to be a bit of a balancing act. I don't want to make it seem that they dislike him unreasonably, or that they don't care if he lives or dies – after all, in the series (especially in the anime) they spend a lot of time rescuing him. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense that they'd be feeling something less than hearts and bunnies when they think of him since he insults them every time they meet. One thing that made me want to write this story is that it gave me a chance to explore that split, that while Kaiba demonstrably has a lot to learn about recognizing friendship when it's coming to his rescue over and over, the gang also has to decide whether they can accept the reluctant ally they seem to have acquired.

_**Note to Guest:**_ Thank you! I wanted to keep that sense that Kaiba was someone who had to fight to survive and I though turning him into a stray cat sort of underscored that.

**Review Note: **I reply directly to all signed reviews. I post responses to unsigned reviews on my Live Journal account, and note them here. The link to my Live Journal Account is on my biopage. Anyone who wants to see a summary of all my responses can also check it out. Responses to the previous chapters will be posted when a new chapter is updated.

_Please review; I'd really like to hear from you._


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